


Moving Day

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-26
Updated: 2006-08-26
Packaged: 2019-02-02 07:38:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12722370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: The Stargate program is completely revamped. Daniel's out of a job and Jack's moving to Washington. Set the end of season 8 (more or less).





	Moving Day

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).

  
Author's notes: While this story is obviously a response to recent events at SciFi, it should stand on its own. I suppose it could be considered AU because it breaks with the canon at the end of season 8.  
  
As always, your feedback is welcomed and appreciated. Let me know what you think.  


* * *

“All set, Jack?”

“Yeah.” Jack stood in the middle of the room, tossing his keys back and forth in his hands. 

Daniel stood a little behind him watching and waiting patiently. This was a hard day for Jack, for him too. 

“Jack? You okay?”

“Yeah,” Jack said quietly.

“A lot of memories here, Jack.”

“A lot,” Jack agreed.

A silence settled over them. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but it was a sad one. Today Jack was going to walk out the door of his house for the last time. Today Jack was moving out, and moving on. The truck in the driveway held the last odds and ends of Jack’s life stuffed into boxes and tomorrow Jack would be driving to Washington, D.C. for a new job at the Pentagon. 

Jack heard a small chuckle behind him. He turned to see Daniel looking at the fireplace and smiling slightly. 

“You’re laughing?” Jack asked surprised that Daniel of all people would think that today was funny.

“Yes,” Daniel said, embarrassed. “No. I mean no I’m not laughing, not exactly, I’m just remembering.”

“And remembering my house the day that I’m moving out makes you laugh?” Jack was reasonably sure that he should be insulted. 

“Do you remember the first night I stayed at your house?” Daniel asked pointing at the spot by the fireplace where he’d stood many years ago. He didn’t know it then but it would be the first of many visits to this house that had become a second home to him. 

“Oh, yes,” Jack said. “I remember it well. But I don’t recall it being funny.”

“No, not funny, not really,” Daniel agreed, “but you have to admit, a geeky archeologist with allergies is a little funny.”

“A geeky archeologist, with allergies and glasses,” Jack said, looking at Daniel. “A geeky archeologist, with allergies and glasses, who couldn’t hold his beer.” Jack said with a grin.

“Hey, I wasn’t that bad, was I?” He saw the smirk on Jack’s face and turned away with an offended shrug of his shoulders.

“I’ve never met anybody who was such a cheap drunk,” Jack said wrapping his arm around Daniel’s shoulders. “Every single time, Daniel, you were a cheap drunk.”

“I was not!”

“Were too. Every time.”

“Like when,” Daniel asked, “other than the first night which doesn’t count because…well…it just doesn’t?”

Jack knew that even after all these years memories of Sha’uri were painful, as well they should be. Jack’s memories of Charlie, however precious, were also painful. Still, he was glad Daniel could laugh about the first night he’d spent in Jack’s house, the first night of many. Jack was only too aware of that fact looking around the now empty room.

“How about the day you and Teal’c showed up at the door with donuts? The day that Hammond dropped by? You couldn’t hold you liquor then either. You thought Teal’c was deep.”

“That’s different,” Daniel said. “Teal’c is deep. You just don’t understand him. Besides, I was in mourning that day”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure I was coming back myself,” Jack said softly. Sitting in this living room with his friends, for what he thought might be his last time, waiting for the knowledge of the Ancients to overload his brain, was one of the hardest things Jack had ever done. He’d never been more glad of the company of friends then on that day.

“Not about that, Jack.” Daniel paused until he saw Jack give him a puzzled look. “You weren’t going to give me your Simpsons collection. You were going to give it to Siler because Siler ‘get’s it,’” Daniel said making the little quotation marks in the air. “I was just trying to drown my sorrow.” 

Jack laughed. “You shit.”

“What can I say? Underneath all this boyish charm, I’m just a drunken, shallow, materialistic schmuck.”

“I can see that.”

Daniel waited again, relieved to see that Jack was still smiling. 

Earlier in the day the moving truck had taken all but a few things. Teal’c, Sam, and Daniel had spent the afternoon wiping down the cupboards, washing the floors, and vacuuming the rugs. They’d even generously cleaned out the fridge, including the last few beers which had mistakenly been left in the door. Sam and Teal’c had left to get washed up and changed for dinner. It was time for Jack and Daniel to do the same. They were supposed to head back to Daniel’s place, shower, change, and met Sam and Teal’c in front of O’Malley’s in less than an hour. It would be their last night on the town before Jack left. 

Yet, despite the fact that their friends would be waiting, neither man seemed in a hurry to leave, as though both of them knew that leaving would put an end to an era in their lives.

“Not really the way we thought it was going to end, is it?” Daniel asked.

“Didn’t think it was going to end,” Jack responded unable to hid the bitterness in his voice, “but to end like this….” 

He could see Daniel trying to hold it all together for his sake, like always, denying his own grief. This was a tough day for Jack, that’s for sure, but it had to be tougher on Daniel. Jack at least knew where he was going to work the next day. Daniel didn’t, not yet. Daniel would be in the mountain for a few more weeks until the gate was shut down and then…and then…Jack didn’t know what was going to happen.

“You okay with all of this?” Jack asked.

“Me? Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, the mountain’s closing, the Stargate’s being shipped to Russia, SG-1’s been dismantled; it’s a lot of changes all at once.”

“Jack, you and I both know it’s about time we honored our agreement with the Russians. If I take the job in Moscow as a consultant, I’ll still have input into the program. So will you, Jack. Washington’s the perfect place for you to be. You can plead our case to the powers that be and make them see the importance of the program, not just for us, but for the rest of the galaxy. The Stargate program has far from outlived its usefulness and someone needs to make the bureaucrats in Washington understand....”

In the middle of his tirade he turned to see Jack leaning against the fireplace with a bemused expression on his face. 

Daniel cleared his throat. “Preaching to the choir here, I guesss."

“Ya think?” He could see Daniel shuffle a little in embarrassment.

Daniel was still a puzzle to Jack in some ways. How could Daniel remain so passionate after all the blows he’d been dealt, not all of which had come from their enemies? It was one of the things that Jack admired most in Daniel, his ability to see beyond the petty politics to the greater purpose. “Meaning of life stuff” was never far from Daniel’s mind—thank god. Even in the face of the present catastrophe, Daniel still believed in the value of what they did—what they’d done. The situation now seemed so unfair. Of all the people who should be praised, patted on the back, lauded and recognized this man in front of him was the most important, but Jack didn’t see that happening. Daniel would get a polite handshake and then be told not to let the door hit him on the way out. Jack sighed in frustration.

“You’ve got some decisions to make,” he said.

“Ya think?” Daniel said mimicking Jack’s earlier retort. 

For Jack it hadn’t really been a decision. As long as he wore the uniform, he’d go where the Air Force told him to go. Yes, he’d been given several options when the word came down that the program was being revamped, but the only one that appealed to him, the only one he felt he qualified for, was Hammond’s old job, head of Homeworld Security. He might not have Daniel’s eloquence when it came to expressing what he believed in but he’d do his best to make sure the ideals of the program continued no matter where the ‘gate was located. He owed it to the people under his command, and more importantly, he owed it to Daniel.

“So, Jack,” Daniel said startling Jack out of his dark thoughts, “would you really have given your entire Simpsons collection to Siler instead of me?” Daniel cast a curious glance at Jack who sliding his hand over the empty mantelpiece.

“I did give them to you, Daniel,” Jack said without looking over at Daniel. “I left them at your apartment this afternoon, in a box along with a some pictures that I want you to have—oh, and a couple of books that you’ve had at my place for months.”

Jack waited for Daniel to say something. When nothing was forthcoming he looked over to see Daniel staring at him, a stunned look on his face. He gave Daniel a little grin.

“You did?” Daniel finally gasped. “You gave me your Simpsons collection? Jack, I don’t know what to say.”

“Hey, Daniel,” Jack said nonchalantly, “you’re my best friend. It’s the least I can do before I move to D.C.”

“Wow! Jack, thanks!”

“No problem. Besides, I bought the whole thing on DVD a couple of days ago.” He bit his lower lip in an effort to keep a straight face.

“What?” Daniel sputtered and then saw the smug look on Jack’s face. “You shit,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, it takes one to know one.”

The silence settled again. The soft light of late afternoon told them that the day was almost over and it was time for them to go. Both of them knew it was time to go but neither one could make the move to the door. 

“God, Jack, I can’t believe this is gone!” The sentence burst out of him before he could stop it. He immediately felt guilty. This wasn’t about him. He wasn’t the one leaving a house he’d lived in for years. This was about Jack, about helping Jack say good-bye to his home. Somehow closing the house was worse than the closing of Cheyenne Mountain. This somehow seemed more permanent. The Stargate program would continue somewhere else but this meant, at least to Daniel, that the team would never be together again, that things would never be the same. 

If the situation weren’t so sad, Daniel would be laughing at himself. Of course things would never be the same. All things changed. Daniel knew that. It was his job to know that. He’d spent years studying how and why things changed, reveled in the knowledge, knowing that when one thing dies something else is born. It was part of an inevitable cycle. Culture, language, technology, all things changed. Sometimes he understood why the changes came about and sometimes he didn’t. This time he didn’t. This change was too much, too close, too personal. This wasn’t an abstract scientific case study, this was about his friends, his family, and his home.

Seeing Daniel’s distress Jack spoke up forcefully. 

“Daniel! No one can take away the memories we have. No one. We won’ t forget this house and all the great barbeques we had here, or all the hockey games we watched, or all the chess games you lost.” Daniel had to smile at that because he and Jack were pretty evenly matched in front of the chess board, although Daniel suspected he’d actually won a few more games than Jack. “We won’t forget all of the pizza we’ve eaten or all the hangovers we’ve had.” Even the bad memories like Daniel’s wake were tempered by good memories like the welcome home party they’d had a couple of days later—another case where Daniel couldn’t hold his beer, Jack recalled. “We won’t forget Carter’s bad hair days, or Teal’c’s bad jokes.” 

Daniel’s face softened. Yeah, there were a lot of good memories here. And even if things changed, there were a lot of things that wouldn’t, like his memories of this house. Nothing could change those.

Knowing that Daniel was struggling to keep his emotions in check, Jack tried to change the subject.

“Have you decided where you’re going next?” he asked.

“No.” came the strained response

“You’d be welcome in Atlantis, you know.”

“Maybe, and after all the time I’ve spent trying to get there, you’d think I’d jump at the opportunity.”

Jack was surprised by Daniel’s apparent reluctance to go to Atlantis, and a little relieved, too, if truth be told. He’d never liked it when Daniel was off world and due back in a few days. That had been one of the hardest parts of being a general—letting the team go through the gate without him. Even the thought of Daniel working as a consultant to the International Stargate program made him a little uncomfortable, and not just because he didn’t always get along with the Russian commanders but because it put Daniel too far away for Jack to help him if he got into trouble. Although how he could get into trouble as a consultant was hard to imagine. Okay, not so hard with Daniel. Still, Russia was half a planet away. That’s why letting him go to another galaxy…well maybe it wouldn’t come to that. 

“You’re not jumping?” Jack asked.

“Not jumping, no.” He saw the questioning look in Jack’s eyes. “The power structure has changed, Jack, and not for the better—except for you, of course. I don’t know anymore what my place is in the program, and I’m not sure I want to be a part of something that doesn’t…that won’t…” Daniel stumbled trying to find the right words. How could he tell Jack that the military establishment he worked for, was the same military establishment Daniel could no longer support? He knew Jack would do a good job—a great job—as the head of the new Stargate program. He had every confidence in Jack. What he didn’t have confidence in were all the other fools who made promises one day and broke them the next. People like Kinsey had taught Daniel to be both cautious and suspicious. He knew Jack thought of him as idealist, and he was, but after all these years he learned a little pragmatism along the way as well. He intended to weigh his options very carefully before he made a decision.

“There’s a spare room in my new apartment you know.” Jack said interrupting Daniel’s train of thought.

“There is?”

“Yeah. You have to come out sometime in the next few weeks and see the new place.”

“I’d like that.” Daniel was warmed by Jack’s offer.

“And you have to help me with a special housewarming ceremony,” Jack said, “if that’s okay with you.”

“Anything, Jack. What do you need me to do?”

“Well, Daniel, it’s a very old O’Neill family ritual, one that we don’t often let outsiders see, but well, you’re family, Daniel, and I think I want you to be the one to help me with this.”

“I’d be honored, Jack,” Daniel said, humbled by the fact that Jack trusted him enough, trusted their friendship enough, to ask Daniel to do this. Anything that would make this easier for Jack, Daniel was willing to do.

“Great, Daniel. Thanks. I knew I could count on you.” Jack clapped Daniel on the back and then turned to the door. Daniel followed slowly. Once outside Jack locked the door behind him, tossed the keys up in the air and caught them tightly in his fist. “Well, that’s that. I’ll drop these off with the real estate agent tomorrow on my way out of town.”

Jack pulled the truck out of the driveway and drove slowly down the street drinking it all in one last time. He was leaving so much behind not the least of which was the friend sitting beside him. Daniel’s voice broke through his reverie.

“Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“What does this housewarming ritual entail? Do you need me to bring anything?’

“What does it entail? Are you sure you want to know?”

Daniel was a little worried. “Why wouldn’t I want to know?”

Jack cleared his throat sheepishly. “I don’t want to scare you away, Daniel.”

“Scare me away? I can’t imagine anything you would ask me to do that I wouldn’t be glad to do. Jack what is this ritual?”

“You sure you’re going to come?” 

“Of course, Jack.”

“Next weekend?”

“Yeah, I can clear my schedule if you need it to be next weekend. Sure.” He sensed Jack’s hesitation. “Jack?”

“We have to watch my entire DVD collection of the Simpsons.” Jack said hurriedly.

“What!” Daniel sputtered. “Your housewarming ritual is to watch the entire DVD collection….? I thought this was some solemn O’Neill family ritual.”

“Watching the Simpsons is serious business, Daniel.” Now it was Daniel’s turn to pause. “Daniel, you promised.”

He had promised. Damn.

“The entire collection?” he asked in defeat.

“Well, not all at once,” Jack said to be rewarded by the relieved expression on Daniel’s face. “I thought we’d watch disc one on Friday.” Daniel’s face dropped. “And we’ll watch disc two on Saturday, disc three on Sunday, and so on.”

“Jack, I’ve only got a couple of days off. We’re still trying to hammer out the transitional details with the Russian government. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay and watch the entire collection.”

“That’s okay. You’ll be back.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Daniel was quiet for a few minutes. “Jack, how many seasons of the Simpsons are there?

“Thirteen? Fourteen? I know there’s a lot.

“It might take more than one weekend to watch them all,” Daniel said thoughtfully.

“Oh, yeah.” Jack replied.

“I’d probably have to come back a couple of times.”

“Oh, yeah.” Jack said again.

“More than a couple of times.”

“Many more” Jack said happily.

“I could bring pizza,” Daniel said.

“Sounds good. You know I get to hire my own staff?” Jack said apparently out of the blue.

“That’s nice,” Daniel said trying to catch up with Jack’s sudden change of topic. Usually he was the one going off on a tangent. “Is Walter being reassigned?”

“Couldn’t live without Walter.” Jack paused and then mumbled, “As much as I’d like to try.” Then he said, “I’m looking for an assistant.”

“An assistant?”

“Well, a partner, a collaborator, another person to help me take the program in the right direction…” Jack’s voice petered out.

“Are you proposing to me?” Daniel asked innocently. “I think a ring or something would be nice. Or even flowers. You know a person likes to feel wanted and this seems a little too spur of the moment to be sincere--.”

“Daniel?”

“Jack?”

“Are you interested or not?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“In marriage?”

“In the job,” Jack said.

“Might be,” came the reply. He knew Jack was serious about the offer and he was touched by Jack’s concern. He was quiet again considering what this would mean for his future. Certainly, the offer was tempting, very tempting. 

“Jack?”

“Yes, Daniel.”

“I really like your old O’Neill family rituals.”

“I thought you might,” Jack said. As hard as it was to leave the house behind, he was looking forward to his move to D.C. Daniel would be a little farther away, and they’d have to make more of an effort to keep it touch, but after nine years, they’d work it out. Daniel would come to visit Jack and watch episodes of the Simpsons; Jack would return the favor. Hopefully, he could talk Daniel into taking the civilian position at the Pentagon and then it would be even easier. Either way, it was time to start making some new memories. 

He looked over to see Daniel slumped down in the seat, suddenly looking completely miserable. Wait. This wasn’t right. Less than a minute ago, Daniel had been joking and smiling. 

“Hey, Danny. You okay?”

“Fine.” Daniel shifted a little in the seat sinking even lower in the cushions if such a thing were possible.

“We’ll be in touch. We’ll visit. I’ll be in town all the time on business, you know, at least until the program here is dismantled and that could take months.” Daniel was still slouched in the seat. “You don’t have to take this job if you don’t want it.”

“I know,” came the mumbled reply.

“Then what’s wrong, Daniel?”

“Jack,” Daniel said with a loud sigh, “did it have to be the Simpsons?”


End file.
